Policy Documents

This resource is a course on how to create multimedia content to enrich understanding of ideas and information. Librarians can use it individually, or learn together in groups. 

This resource lays the groundwork for practical SWOT analysis. Librarians can adapt the key points and use for internally generated data. The CPD coordinator can also use as it is as an exercise template for learning how to do SWOT analysis using library data. 

The Open Access policy will provide our scholars the opportunity and platform to promote their academic work by enhancing access to research outputs. Further, the policy will enhance the visibility and impact of our research output and archiving of our
scholarly materials.

The University of South Africa has approved its OER strategy which demonstrates that they have realised that the vast quantities of content and teaching materials, especially openly licensed content, have significant potential to contribute to the quality of the teaching and learning experience of its students.

• guide the development and review of OER materials prior to sharing them on a worldwide scale
• clarify publication rights and licensing issues
• outline policies regarding the use of required infrastructure (information technology, library, etc.) and other support services
• identify human and other resources to support faculty in developing OER for teaching and learning
• define collaborations within and external to the university and the intent to allow access.

This strategy attempts to create an enabling environment for Wits academics, students and other staff to participate in the use, adaptation, creation, and sharing of educational and research resources as free and open educational resources (FOER). This new approach to old academic traditions is a global trend, led by some of the top institutions in the world, and as a world class, research-intensive university, Wits should keep abreast of these developments. The strategy provides examples of content types and recommends appropriate Creative Commons licenses for use when choosing to create FOER. In addition, the strategy provides for an open access institutional repository (IR) for research output, and provides means for researchers to add their papers to the IR. It also provides for the establishment and maintenance of a repository for academic presentations. The strategy grants explicit permission for Wits staff to participation in the creation of FOER, including courseware, and the deposit of research articles in an IR. It also establishes mechanisms to support and raise awareness of FOER and IR work at Wits. This will increase exposure of Wits researchers to other researchers around the world and to the media, contribute to increased citations, and enhance the already strong reputation that Wits enjoys internationally. It will also provide for a long-term archive for our research output. A number of projects and programmes of action will be used to implement this strategy.

This report makes a case for open educational resources (OER) in Nigeria and presents a draft OER policy for higher education in Nigeria. In its simplest form, OER are any “educational resources (including curriculum maps, course materials, textbooks, streaming videos, multimedia applications, podcast, and any other materials that have been designed for use in teaching and learning) that are openly available for use by educators and students, without accompanying need to pay royalties or licence fees” (Butcher, 2011). This report comprises four sections. Section one focuses on the status of higher education in Nigeria, covering information on the education system in Nigeria and higher education; issues of access, cost and quality in higher education, as well as a few details on the National Universities Commission (NUC). Section two focuses on information and communication technology (ICT) in higher education institutions, covering the status of ICT in higher education institutions in Nigeria as well as national and international projects and initiatives in this area. With a focus on open educational resources (OER) in Nigeria, section three presents an overview of OER, including short explanations of copyright and open licensing. Some of the institutions using and promoting OER in Nigeria are also highlighted. In section four, the process of validation of the draft OER policy though a national steering committee and national consultation is described. The Appendix provides the validated National OER policy for Higher Education in Nigeria, as distributed by NUC at the 2nd World OER Congress.

Although this document begins with the religious ideology of Brigham Young University, it provides a useful analysis of the status of open access at universities in the United States of America.

Although this document contains some of the religious ideology of the Brigham Young University, some of their staff are leading thinkers in open education resources theory. The policy document is therefore a useful reference for OERAfrica

The New Zealand Government Open Access and Licensing framework (NZGOAL) was first approved by Cabinet on 5 July 2010 as government guidance for State Services agencies to follow when releasing copyright works and non-copyright material for re-use by third parties. It standardises the licensing of government copyright works for re-use using Creative Commons licences and recommends the use of 'no-known rights' statements for non-copyright material. It is widely recognised that re-use of this material by individuals and organisations may have significant creative and economic benefit for New Zealand. NZGOAL provides a series of open licensing and open access principles for copyright works and non-copyright material. These principles address, among other things, issues relating to open licensing, open access, creativity, authenticity, non-discrimination and open format. Version 2 was released in 2014.

The Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, August 25-27, 2011, convened over 180 experts from 32 countries and six continents to help re-articulate the public interest dimension in intellectual property law and policy.
The Washington Declaration on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest records the conclusions from the Congress. It has received more than 755 signatures to this day (26th September, 2011). To view the Declaration and the signatures or to add your support: http://infojustice.org/washington-declaration

The purpose of this policy is to provide direction in the use of open educational resources (hereinafter referred to as OER) to increase access to and support quality learning and teaching in Fiji’s education and training system. In doing so, the policy seeks to strengthen commitment to OER by all concerned including the Government.

This policy outlines the University’s position on Open Educational Resources (OERs) and provides guidelines for practice in learning and teaching.

Everyone talks about OER Policy, but what does it mean? What do OER policies look like in practice? How do they impact OER initiatives? How does our government and our world perceive Open policy? Is policy always necessary in OER implementation? SBCTC invites you on a journey, one where you will explore different paths,  each one reÄecting on these questions through interviews with experts in various areas of OER. These interviews are woven into a series of multimedia presentations on Open Education policy strategy, implementation, and vision.

The Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER) (40 C/32) was adopted at the 40th UNESCO General Conference in Paris on 25th November 2019 as the culmination of a long process of UNESCO engagement with the concept of OER. Now that it is adopted and a UNESCO Dynamic Coalition has been discussing the next steps, this raises the practical question of what steps government and educational institutions at all levels can do to help to operationalize the OER Recommendation.

To help to unpack the possibilities, OER Africa has been facilitating a process to support UNESCO and its stakeholders to consider what actions they might consider taking in each of the four key areas of the Recommendation:
1) Building capacity of stakeholders to create, access, re-use, adapt and redistribute OER;
2) Developing supportive policy;
3) Encouraging inclusive and equitable quality OER; and
4) Nurturing the creation of sustainability models for OER.

This work is being done with support and input from a Network of Open Organizations organized by Open Education Global. Discussions are in very early phases but has so far led to development of a very detailed Matrix of possible actions to operationalize the OER Recommendation. The draft Matrix considers in detail all the Actions identified for each Area of Action in the OER Recommendation and lists possible initiatives that governments and institutions might take (analysed separately for each stakeholder group). It is a work in progress. 

The University of Jos's eLearning Strategy provides a focus for University-wide five year teaching and learning development through the use of appropriate technology. The aim is to enhance the range of pedagogic uses of eLearning by staff and students and to support the delivery of blended and flexible learning, and to maintain the academic rigor of both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The strategy encourages faculties and departments to vigorously explore the use of technology in their teaching and learning processes.